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Govt should ensure ‘aviral’ flow of Ganga, says environment scientist BD Tripathi VARANASI: After the UPA government constituted the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) in 2009 and announced "Mission Clean Ganga by 2020", the NDA government led by Narendra Modi has set a target to clean the holy river in the next 18 years. But ... 09/25/2014 - 4:11 am | View Link
Agents ensure sex offenders avoid contact with kids Two children, a punk-rock ballerina and a zombie, bounded down the sidewalk Wednesday as a team of parole agents pulled up to a west Santa Rosa apartment complex. The agents arrived to make a surprise visit to a 58-year-old man on parole for a child ... 11/1/2012 - 3:55 am | View Link
Ensure FBI doesn't shut down your PC on July 9 That's the date on which the FBI is scheduled to pull the plug on DNS servers through which your PC might be connecting to the Internet ... visit dns-ok-us to run a quick check to see if your computer is infected. Also go to the DNSChanger Working ... 07/9/2012 - 7:47 am | View Link
Ensure the FBI doesn’t shut down your PC on July 9 (MoneyWatch) There’s a chance you’ll lose access to the Internet in just a few days—on Monday, July 9. That’s the date on which the FBI is scheduled to pull the plug on DNS servers through which your PC might be connecting to the Internet. 07/6/2012 - 9:43 am | View Link
Ensure the FBI doesn't shut down your PC on July 9 COMMENTARY There's a chance you'll lose access to the Internet in just a few days -- on Monday, July 9. That's the date on which the FBI is scheduled to pull the plug on DNS servers through which your PC might be connecting to the Internet. And if that ... 07/6/2012 - 5:44 am | View Link
Your computer has been locked. Fake FBI warning (virus ... The ‘FBI’ ransonware has infected a friend’s computer. It will not allow booting into any type of Safe mode. If you try a Safe mode, it gives a blue screen ... 10/30/2014 - 12:50 am | View Website
FBI Virus Scam Locked Computer Screen? Remove FBI Moneypak ... FBI Virus Scam Locked Computer Screen? Remove FBI Moneypak Virus From PC Or Mac Document Transcript. 1. Home Plans & Pricing Services My ... 10/29/2014 - 4:22 pm | View Website
Microsoft Names Defendants in Zeus Botnets Case; Provides ... Additionally, as a result of sink holing the Zeus IPs seized during Operation b71, we have learned the locations of hundreds of thousands of computers ... 10/29/2014 - 12:40 pm | View Website
Remove FBI CYBERCRIME DIVISION virus (MoneyPak Scam) This page contains step by step instruction on how to remove FBI CYBERCRIME DIVISION virus and unlock your computer. 10/29/2014 - 12:25 pm | View Website
Technology and Science News Get the latest science news and technology news, read tech reviews and more at ABC News. 10/28/2014 - 2:28 pm | View Website
Get ready to hear "Please silence your mobile phones -- and take off your Google Glass" in a movie theater near you.
The Motion Picture Association of America and an industry group representing the owners of 32,000 moving screens across the United States announced Wednesday that they have updated their anti-theft policy banning recording devices to include "wearable tech," such as Google Glass.
People don't always say what they think. Especially in business and love.
Please, therefore, consider this question: whom would you trust more with your private data: the NSA, a company like Google, or your mom?
I ask because I'm looking at the results of a survey, conducted between October 9 and12, that asked just that.
Federal regulators are suing Gerber, the well-known baby food maker, for claiming that its Good Start Gentle formula can prevent or reduce allergies in children.
The Federal Trade Commission says that claim is bogus and that the New Jersey-based company misled consumers by suggesting that its formula was the first to meet government approval for reducing the risk of allergies.


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ISLAMABAD, Sept. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — GoodWe is pleased to announce that, following feedback from PV installers from around the globe, GoodWe was listed as the top inverter brand in eight countries (Pakistan, Netherlands, Australia, Poland, Spain, South Africa, Brazil and Vietnam)- a new industry record. GoodWe stands out from many inverter brands in terms of brand recognition, customer preference and global market distribution.
Pakistan has always been a key strategic market for GoodWe. Since entering the Pakistan market in 2018, it has set up an integrated service system for pre-sale, in-sale and after-sales and a nationwide distribution network. GoodWe inverters offer reliable operation and excellent performance and are well recognized by customers worldwide. GoodWe’s philosophy is to always create win-win partnerships with customers by identifying and integrating the most advanced components and techniques available while offering an unparalleled after-sales service. Technological innovation is GoodWe’s main core competence. With an in-house R&D team of approx. 500 employees in two R&D centers, GoodWe can offer a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions for residential, commercial and utility scale PV and storage systems, ensuring that performance and quality go hand-in-hand across the entire range.
GoodWe has now obtained the EuPD award for 5 consecutive years in the Netherlands. Besides EuPD, GoodWe is the only inverter brand to have won the prestigious TÜV Rheinland award for five consecutive years and, in 2020, GoodWe was confirmed as the world’s leading supplier of storage inverter with a 15% market share.
GoodWe is committed to providing differentiated solutions for Pakistan customers, hopes to provide users with more diverse energy solutions, to create and meet the broader energy demand. GoodWe is ready to fly with the country to higher heights of service, quality and excellence.
GoodWe is a world-leading PV inverter and energy storage solutions manufacturer and is listed as a public limited company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 688390). With an accumulative delivery of more than two million inverters and installation of 23GW in more than 100 countries and regions, GoodWe solar inverters have been used in residential and commercial rooftops, industrial and utility scale systems and range from 0.7kW to 250kW.
More information is available at www.goodwe.com.

domain: news


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About flexible screens We have been talking about many years, even though the rumors have intensified in recent months. Samsung will be one of the manufacturers who use this technology ‘coming soon’ and the other, LG, has already officially confirmed the massive production of their respective flexible panels has started.
If we look back we find that we were already promised the first model for within 2013, and it seems that deadlines are complying. Still unknown which terminal will be chosen, although rumors suggest to a LG G Flex large.
The specifications of the flexible display Yes they have confirmed officially. A panel OLED 0.44 mm of thickness and 7.2 grams of weight with a size of 6 inch. According to LG, the angle of curvature is light, allowing a 70 cm of RADIUS circumference taking the ends of the panel.
Obviously, this achievement is relative. It will allow manufacturers to ‘play’ with the hardware and designs, but should not be forgotten that the other components are not flexible and, therefore, the concept of fully customizable phone to various forms remains a utopia. Unless LG or Samsung have prepared some surprise -with a new change of format-, there shouldn’t be too many new features from the point of view of the user.


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Yesterday Amazon updated it home page. That’s not exactly news, as it happens fairly regularly, but what it said did create a bit of news. The company announced that for the ninth year in a row, it had been voted number one in customer satisfaction. Given the way it treats customers, along with our love for shopping, this is not overly surprising.
Amazon also is not a competitor to Microsoft, so on the face, this wouldn’t even be fair, and that’s not a comparison I’ll make. This really is not about the online retailer, the news only sparked this thought. Why does Microsoft garner so much hatred from its customers?
There are numerous reasons that spring to mind when pondering this question. There are the reports of users being locked out of their PC’s by the company’s faulty Windows copy protection scheme. There have been updates that sent machines into endless reboot cycles, and the recent NSA allegations certainly have not been a benefit.
Amazon can simply please people by offering the best prices, free shipping and easy refunds if you aren’t satisfied. For a company like Microsoft this is all a whole lot tougher. And hence, it has resulted in a serious image crisis.
The real question is, how can it be fixed? It’s difficult to even speculate. The company doesn’t know what hardware and software you’re running, what changes you’ve made to a stock system. Hence, it becomes very difficult to push any update without wrecking a computer somewhere.
The harebrained copy protection schemes on Windows are perhaps the best route -- and I mean getting rid of them. The software giant needs to realize that the vast majority of people simply are not pirates. Most get Windows through buying a new computer, and those of us who upgrade tend to pay. And, in case Microsoft doesn’t realize it -- the real pirates know how to get around these schemes. It only hurts the average user when a false positive is returned, and it seems to happen a lot.
The whole NSA scandal is another story. Microsoft is dealing with this as best it can, promising that it isn’t providing information, at least willingly, to the feds. It offers a transparency report and has plans in place for a more open approach in the future, along with encryption of your personal data. Sadly, many don’t believe them, nor Google either, when it comes to this.
In short, the company has a serious problem on its hands, and there really isn’t any easy answer for fixing it. The predicament is much tougher than what Amazon faces each day, but the business model is also much more complicated. What’s the solution?


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Myanmar’s recent political shift has given rise to a market-oriented economy and the performance of the import and export sector is underpinned by increasing production and industrial development. The food sector is the one at the forefront, representing 63.51% of the overall industrial sector in Myanmar. Hand-in-hand with this development comes the call of international and local organizations for better conditions in the food industry and adoption of international food safety standards.
Bureau Veritas together with ASSIST, is working to raise awareness about food safety through introducing food safety requirements based GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) and HACCP scope to the fruits processing industry in Myanmar; to minimize risks to business and consumers and ensure that products uphold international quality standards. This would also benefit factories, enabling them to produce better products, increase production and enjoy increased sales and exports.
This project will engage industry owners and fruit companies to engage with each other and generate commitment to implement and promote food safety standards and resource-efficient practices in the industry. Training programs will capacitate food safety experts and create local consultants on GMP and HACCP to provide guidance for 20 fruit processing factories in compliance with standard requirements. These factories will also receive training on compliance, assessment visits, and certification.


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Strong resistance in the City Council could pressure Mayor Rudy
Giuliani to scale back his plan to encourage more big-box superstores in the city, observers say.
Mr. Giuliani plans to officially submit his proposal to the city's 59 community boards next week, but council staff and other experts are already at work on possible modifications to make the plan more palatable to the council and to neighborhoods most large affected by the zoning changes.
"The council starts without the 26 votes to pass it," says Councilman Walter McCaffrey, D-Queens, chairman of the land use subcommittee and a major critic of the mayor's proposal. "There are a lot of questions out there that must be resolved."
The mayor's plan, first announced more than a year ago, would allow megastores of up to 200,000 square feet to move into manufacturing areas without obtaining a special permit-a cumbersome process that has long discouraged most large retailers from entering the city.
Council seeks review
Among the ideas under discussion in the council are limiting the types of superstores that could take advantage of looser zoning rules, providing incentives to existing small manufacturers, and retaining some measure of review by the council and neighborhoods.
"We're all for lower prices and greater availability," says one council official. "But we don't have confidence that mistakes won't be made, and we wouldn't have the ability to have our say."
The administration argues that encouraging more superstores such as Price Club, Kmart and Pathmark would allow New York City to recapture half of the $3 billion in retail purchases that city residents now make in the suburbs, where large retailers are plentiful.
But the measure has sparked strong opposition from small merchants and neighborhood business communities, which fear both the retail competition and the impact on local congestion and traffic.
There are also concerns that the superstore proposal would mean the city is giving up on its once-thriving manufacturing sector, where jobs have dropped by two-thirds to 280,000 over the past four decades.
The mayor's people say that's not the case. Mr. Giuliani gives a major speech Tuesday outlining a new manufacturing policy.
Submission of the plan to community boards starts a six-month review process that will eventually bring the plan before the council for a vote sometime this fall. Joe Rose, director of planning and the mayor's point person on superstores, says the administration stands behind its proposal, though it is not ruling out compromise down the line.
"As information comes to light, we will take it into account," he says. "But we're not going to do anything that undermines the essence of the proposal, which is to do away with anachronistic and disruptive prohibitions on desperately needed retail activity."
Seeking middle ground
Mayoral aides have begun to discuss the issue with council officials, but sources say it is too early for serious negotiations to begin.
"There's a lot of room between total deregulation of manufacturing space and the status quo," says Richard Lipsky, lobbyist for the Neighborhood Small Business Association, which opposes the mayor's plan.
A major concern in the council is that exempting superstores from permits would deprive council members of input on developments in their districts, something the current zoning process provides. Observers say politicians are always loath to give up any institutional power, which is what the mayor's plan would have the council do.
However, retaining even a pared-down permit process could result in the same kind of bureaucratic and costly delays that now discourage retailers from coming into New York. So council officials are examining zoning maps to determine how the big-box plan would affect specific neighborhoods.
Another idea under discussion would exempt only supermarkets from the current zoning restrictions, not other retail stores. The argument is that large food stores are more acceptable to neighborhoods, especially in poor communities, where choice is often limited. The huge success of the Fairway market in Harlem, which opened although it exceeded zoning limits, has given impetus to this proposal.
Other compromises under discussion could reduce the 200,000-square-foot limit by up to 25%, remove restrictions on retail only for Manhattan manufacturing zones, revive subsidies for displaced manufacturers, and lift zoning restrictions only on buildings that have been vacant for at least a year.
"We have begun discussions with the council," says Mr. Rose. "Obviously, this kind of action takes cooperation between both the executive and the legislature."


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By Steve Evans
The death knell for security standard SHA-1 has been sounding for a number of years now, and Google’s cracking of it in February turned the volume up even higher. Despite this, it seems many websites aren’t yet ready to say goodbye.
New research from Venafi has revealed that 21% of websites they tested are still using SHA-1 certificates. This figure is down from the 36% they discovered in November 2016, but there is still a long way to go to ensure a safer online experience.
To read the entire article, please click here.


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When does Nutrition Begin? From the time a child is fed with its mother’s milk. Mother’s milk is considered to be the safest food in this world. But a recent research study of Indian mother milk by Dr.Rashmi singh, IIT Kanpur has revealed that there are residues of pesticides in mother’s milk. This is really shocking……!
The chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides which have been promoted as necessary for better agriculture output has become hazardous to human life. But the reality is that we do not need pesticides for better yield, and the use of pesticides is not only deadly for health but results in expensive farming methods.
Nutritious food contributes to our physical health and mental growth, our well being, our ability to fight diseases. But if we consume large amounts of pesticides along with our food, then along with nutrition we are also consuming poison, and that defeats the very purpose of eating the food. Many neurotoxins are organophosphatesl are currently approved and being used to make pesticides.
Continuous consumption of vegetables, green leaves and food with these neurotoxins can lead to Fatigue, Asthma, Skin irritations, Nausea, vomiting, Brain disorders, Blood disorders, Live damage, Reproductive damage and Cancer.
Organic Farming in India has gained a lot of prominence in the last few years, with consumers increasingly becoming aware of the harmful effects of pesticides. In addition to this there are many incidents reported where farmers have been found to be merrily injecting stimulants for the purpose of ripening fruits and vegetables, giving them a glowing colour and texture artificially, so as to fetch a higher price in the market. What is further disheartening to hear is that the leafy vegetables available in many cities are grown around the city using drainage water containing large traces of heavy metals, many of them being carcinogenic.


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By Jacob Passy
Getty Images /iStock alexsl
Online privacy can be a “two steps forward, one step back” situation.
Facebook /zigman2/quotes/205064656/composite FB +2.12% came under fire over the weekend after a user discovered that users of the social-media site cannot opt out of allowing others to “look up” others’ accounts using the phone number they supplied for two-factor authentication.
Two-factor authentication is a method used to secure online accounts that requires users to verify their claimed identity in some way beyond a password. This can include having a number texted to a mobile device or logging into a separate authentication app.
In an age of near-daily security breaches, two-factor authentication is seen as a way to help users maintain some control over their online security — it’s a step that’s often recommended by security experts.
Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia and vice-chair of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, flagged the privacy concern on Twitter /zigman2/quotes/203180645/composite TWTR +1.62% . Facebook’s account settings allow users to choose who can look them up using a phone number they’ve given Facebook, including phone numbers supplied solely for the purpose of two-factor authentication.
But there is no option to make the phone number completely private. Users can only choose to make the number searchable to “everyone,” “friends of friends” and “friends.” As Burge noted, the security setting defaults to everyone, meaning that anyone could theoretically use the phone number to search for and confirm whether a Facebook profile is yours.
Burge also argued that Facebook was turning people’s phone numbers into trackable pieces of data that they can use to keep tabs on you across all of their related companies, since other Facebook-owned entities such as Instagram and WhatsApp either require phone numbers or pull in that data from users’ accounts on other platforms. This makes it easier for Facebook to retain data on a user if they delete an account on one Facebook-owned platform, but retain a presence on others.
Burge also argued that Facebook was turning people’s phone numbers into trackable pieces of data that they can use to keep tabs on you across all of their related companies.
Last year, the company said it was removing the ability to find someone’s profile by using another person’s phone number or email address in the Facebook search function, USA Today reported .
A Facebook spokeswoman told MarketWatch that the privacy settings Burge identified were neither new nor specific to two-factor authentication.
“Today, the ‘Who can look me up?’ settings control how your phone number or email address can be used to look you up in other ways, such as when someone uploads your contact info to Facebook from their mobile phone,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in an email. “We appreciate the feedback we’ve received about these settings and will take it into account.”
While phone numbers may not be used to find profiles with the Facebook search bar, there are other ways of looking up people using their phone numbers.
This is just the most recent privacy and security hurdle Facebook has faced. Last fall, the social media company revealed that a vulnerability that allowed attackers to steal Facebook access tokens for some 50 million user accounts, which they could use to take over those accounts . And Facebook was roundly lambasted for allowing user data to be accessed by third parties as a way to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowed to improve the access it gives to third-party apps.
Other people on Twitter quickly pounced on Facebook following Burge’s tweets, criticizing the company for not doing enough to protect users’ security and privacy. One person described Facebook’s efforts to play around with data it gleaned through two-factor authentication as “the anti-vaccination misinformation of security.”
Some resurfaced revelations from last year, first reported by TechCrunch , that Facebook was using phone numbers supplied for two-factor authentication to hone its advertising targeting.
How to secure your Facebook and other accounts
The Facebook privacy revelation isn’t the first-time the security of two-factor authentication has been questioned as a viable security tool. The social-media site Reddit was hacked last year after codes used for two-factor authentication were intercepted by hackers who spoofed the phone numbers of company employees. All user data from 2007 and earlier was exposed in the incident.
The good news for consumers wary of handing over their phone number to Facebook: Since last May the company has not required a phone number to sign up for two-factor authentication. Instead, users can choose to download an authentication app such as Google Authenticator /zigman2/quotes/202490156/composite GOOGL +1.14% to secure their account.
And social media isn’t the only online arena where consumers should employ two-factor authentication. The website Two Factor Auth lets users search to see all sites that offer the feature.
Despite the importance of two-factor authentication as part of securing one’s online accounts, fewer than half of American have even heard of the process, and even fewer use it, according to the results of a recent survey from security firm Duo Security .
Two-factor authentication should be just one piece of a consumer’s approach to securing their online accounts though. Security experts also recommend using a password manager such as Dashlane or Lastpass to further secure their accounts, among other steps.
Facebook shares have been up 30% this year to date, compared to a 10.65% increase for the Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA +1.34% and an 11% increase for the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +1.60% .
(Kari Paul contributed to this story.)


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TAIPEI, Feb 6- Apple Inc supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd said silicon wafers were damaged at a plant in southern Taiwan where a quake hit early on Saturday, affecting no more than 1 percent of first-quarter shipments. TSMC, whose customers also include Qualcomm Inc, is so far the only major Apple supplier in southern Taiwan to report damage...» Read More
SUNNYVALE, Calif. _ Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Ltd. on Wednesday reported a loss of $1.6 million in its fiscal second quarter. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 12 cents per share. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $79 million.
CHANDLER, Ariz. _ Microchip Technology Inc. on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $61.2 million. For the current quarter ending in March, Microchip Tech expects its per-share earnings to range from 65 cents to 69 cents. Microchip Tech shares have decreased 9 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard& Poor's 500 index has...
Feb 3- Activist investor Starboard Value LP disclosed a stake of about 7 percent in Marvell Technology Group on Wednesday, saying the U.S. chipmaker's shares were "undervalued". Starboard said on Wednesday it would retain Rick Hill, Oleg Khaykin and Jeff McCreary- executives from the semiconductor industry- as advisers in connection with its investment in the...
Starboard Value disclosed a 7 percent stake in chipmaker Marvell Technology on Wednesday, saying it believed that the shares were "undervalued."
Feb 3- Activist investor Starboard Value LP disclosed a stake of about 7 percent in Marvell Technology Group on Wednesday, saying the chipmaker's shares were "undervalued." Starboard said it would retain Rick Hill, Oleg Khaykin and Jeff McCreary- executives from the semiconductor industry- as advisers in connection with its investment in the company.
Starboard said it would retain Rick Hill, Oleg Khaykin and Jeff McCreary, executives from the semiconductor industry, as advisers in connection with its investment in the company.
SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. on Thursday reported a loss of $7.1 million in its fourth quarter. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 14 cents per share. Fairchild Semiconductor shares have decreased 2.5 percent since the beginning of the year.
SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Cypress Semiconductor Corp. on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $77.3 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 13 cents per share. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $445.2 million.
*Q4 operating profit $5.1 bln, in line with guidance. SEOUL, Jan 28- Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday warned of possible weaker earnings this year due to softer sales of gadgets such as smartphones, a trend that is also hurting rival Apple Inc and major chipmakers. Revenue rose 1.1 percent to 53.3 trillion won, slightly better than the 53 trillion won...
SEOUL, Jan 28- Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday warned of possible weaker earnings this year compared with 2015 due to softer sales of gadgets such as smartphones, a trend that is also hurting rival Apple Inc and major chipmakers. Samsung said its October-December operating profit was 6.1 trillion won, compared with 6.1 trillion won it guided...
*Taiwan suppliers warn weak orders, lower Q1 revenue. TAIPEI, Jan 22- Some of Apple Inc's main Asian suppliers expect revenues and orders to drop this quarter, indicating iPhone sales are almost certain to post their first annual decline since the flagship product was launched almost a decade ago. The forecasts of lacklustre sales by companies including Taiwan...
UBS released an iPhone survey with shipment results that are worse than it expected, but why did the data not impact Apple’s rating?
The number of key Apple suppliers warning that their quarterly results would likely be below estimates continues to grow.
Christopher Rolland, FBR Capital Markets semiconductor analyst, breaks down Intel's quarterly numbers.
Intel beat the Street's expectations but shares fell on raising concerns over slowing growth in its data center business, reports CNBC's Landon Dowdy.
*Dialog will receive $137.3 mln breakup fee. FRANKFURT, Jan 15- Shares in Dialog Semiconductor Plc rose as much as 9 percent on Friday after it said it would not enter a bidding war for U.S. chipmaker Atmel Corp. By 0845 GMT Dialog shares were up 3 percent at 27.78 euros after rising as much as 9 percent.
The technology company's earnings easily topped expectations, but its data center revenue came in lower than expected.
Intel CFO Stacy Smith explains why Intel is well positioned as technology spreads to more facets of life.
Intel shares traded lower after reporting a stronger quarter than expected, reports CNBC's Josh Lipton and Jon Fortt.
*2016 capex likely $9 bln to $10 bln. Demand for high-end smartphones has started the year weak, while in other segments there are already signs of upward demand momentum in emerging markets including China, the world's biggest for smartphones, TSMC said. Last year's total capex of $8.12 billion came as a slump in the global technology sector and slowing economic...


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Larry Jewelry celebrated the grand opening of their recently refreshed ION Orchard boutique, the ceremony on 24 June attended by VIP guests, socialites and jewellery aficionados in support of the luxury jewellery brand.
Apart from getting an exclusive glimpse into the completely refurbished boutique, Larry Jewelry’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Caric Hon also unveiled a new bridal concept – the Eternal Bride Collection.
A first in Singapore, brides-to-be can look forward to a range of eight distinctive wedding jewellery styles, that also stay true to the brand’s ethos of fine craftsmanship, classic cuts and quality pieces.
Lisa Lim, Lim Xu Yue
Charmaine Kwee, Patricia Kwee
Irene Tan, model, Sim Ee Wan
Catherine Ng, Caric Hon, Eric Tay
Barry Lau, Model, Yvonne Siew, Caric Hon


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A team from the Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) is attending the German-Ghana Agro-Processing Exhibition to be held in Accra on Tuesday, July 13.
Led by Mr. George Boakye, the Regional Minister, they are expected to showcase and sell the economic prospects and opportunities in the region at the exhibition to be attended by more than 40 German investors.
“The Minister’s participation in the exhibition is at the invitation of Mr. Burkhardt Hellemann, the Delegate for the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK, Ghana)”, a statement issued and signed by Mr. Moses Antwi, the Special Aide to the Minister indicated on Monday at Goaso.
It is being organized by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ghana Investment Promotion Council with support from the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana, the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, and the Africa Business Network.
The exhibition would create a platform for both leaders and German investors to deliberate on mutually beneficial cooperation and deepen the bilateral relations between Germany and the Ahafo Region.
A copy of the statement made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani explained the exhibition “is an initiative by a Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana, which is in line with its mandate to promote trade between Germany and Ghana”.
“Among other objectives, the exhibition aims at looking more intently at the agro-processing sector and promote the transfer of world-renowned and much-loved German technology, know-how, ideas, and interesting German businesses into the agro-processing space in Ghana”, it added.
“The Delegation is excited by developments in the space in Ghana and is ready to support efforts to increase and improve agricultural output and focus more on value-addition efforts along the value-chain”.
“The first in the series of this event aims to bring together, Ghanaian and German agro-processing businesses, thought-leaders, policymakers and other relevant actors in the sector to network”.


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Three in four businesses in Ireland have a positive outlook for the next 12 months reflecting greater confidence in economic recovery, according to the second annual Regional Business Barometer Study, commissioned by telecoms and cloud services provider Magnet.
The study, conducted by Amárach Research in January 2016, showed a total of 74% of businesses surveyed are fairly or very positive about their prospects this year, a significant increase in optimism from 61% in 2015. There is a corresponding drop in negative outlook to just 5% (from 13% last year).
The research was carried out among 540 businesses across eight regional authority areas in January 2016. The research encompassed a broad range of enterprises in the survey ranging, from micro businesses with 1-9 people employed right up to businesses with 250 people or more.
For more on this article, please visit: Business World


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Adam Aron – CEO of AMC Theatres – revealed that cryptocurrencies and other digital payment methods accounted for more than a third of the online payments for the company during Q1, 2022. The largest movie theatre chain in the world accepts several digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu.
AMC’s Decision to Embrace Crypto Labeled a Success
Last year, the entertainment firm jumped into the digital asset ecosystem by allowing customers to purchase tickets through all the US-based theatres in bitcoin. A month later, it expanded the offering, adding Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. Earlier this year, AMC Theatres enabled clients to make online payments for tickets using two of the most popular memecoins – Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
During a Q1 2022 earnings call, CEO Adam Aron revealed that cryptocurrencies and digital settlement methods formed approximately 35% of the entity’s online payments during the first quarter of the year:
“Taken together, these various new payment options, impressively, recently represented about 35% of our total online payments.”
In addition, Aron disclosed that AMC marked a significant improvement during this period compared to Q1, 2021, fueled mainly by the decreasing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total revenue grew from $148.3 million to $785.7 million, while net loss decreased from $567.2 million to $337.4 million.
AMC announced 1st quarter 2022 earnings today. Revenues up 5-fold vs. Q1 of 2021. EBITDA loss reduced by 80%. Revenues per patron up 34% over 2019 pre-pandemic. Dr Strange opening was the biggest of 2022, and the 2nd biggest in the last two years! Go see it! Congrats @Disney.
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) May 10, 2022
AMC and NFTs
The CEO further revealed that the entertainment company has eight programs involving non-fungible tokens. Those have either been launched over the past several months or will be introduced at some point in the future.
Such a project was AMC Theatres’ decision to offer 86,000 digital collectibles to early buyers of the latest Spider-Man film last year. The NFTs were in 100 different designs while the company promised they were “eco-friendly” built on the WAX blockchain.
The initiative created massive enthusiasm among film fans. Aron disclosed that customers were rushing to buy tickets for “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” becoming the second-biggest one-day move ticket sales in AMC’s history. The record belongs to “Avengers: Endgame.”


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Donna Karan Steps Down as Head of Donna Karan Int’l - Designer Donna Karan has decided to step down as head of Donna Karan International, to focus on her Urban Zen line according to the New York Times. So w...
1 day ago
|Actress Jamie King in a Mad Men collection from Banana Republic Dress. (photo courtesy of Getty images)|
|Pictured: The Mad Men Collection lace dress in black.|


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Apple Computer's announcement late Wednesday that it plans to sue anyone who posted details about new products prior to their release has lawyers mulling over the legal aspects of the computer company's case.
In a lawsuit filed in a Santa Clara, California Superior Court, Apple alleged that photos of the new Dual Processor, PowerMac G4, and ApplePro mouse were posted on websites in February, months before the products were officially released at the Macworld Expo in July.
The suit does not specify what websites posted the images and also does not name the defendants, referring to them only as "Doe 1-25".
Apple says it will amend the complaint when it gets more specific information.
"What they are doing here is using this suit to find out who exactly leaked the information," said Jonathan Ayers, a New York copyright and trademark lawyer.
"They obviously think the leaks came from inside their organization," he said. "Now they will be able to subpoena Internet service providers to find out the real name of the person or people who registered the screen name ... used to post the details about Apple's new products."
Ayers said he heard that a subpoena has already been sent to Yahoo, since at least one of the John Does used a free Yahoo Geocities email account.
"The legal papers also state that Apple thinks at least one of the Does will continue to leak information, causing Apple great and irreparable harm and damage," said Ayers.
Apple is asking for compensatory and exemplary damages and an injunction against any further publishing of details regarding unreleased products.
"In order to obtain an injunction, Apple needs to prove that they will be irreparably harmed, that they are likely to prevail on the merits at the trial, that monetary damages are not an adequate remedy, and that the granting of an injunction is in the public interest," said Harvey Jacobs, of Jacobs & Associates.
He said that Apple won't have a hard time proving its case.
"Stock prices routinely move up or down in relation to the timing and nature of new product announcements and delivery dates," Jacobs said. "If information regarding these new products is released prematurely, then the buzz comes at the wrong time. If the buzz dies out before they can capitalize on it by selling units, then there are damages."
Jacobs said that while specific damage may be hard to assess, there are expert witnesses such as economists, market timing experts, and stock analysts who can all demonstrate that harm was caused by any leak.
Both Ayers and Jacobs dismiss the contention by some of Apple's more strident critics, that this is essentially a free-speech issue. The fact that the leak involved commercial information posted anonymously on the Web takes the First Amendment out of it, they say.


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Analysis and commentary on economic news, trends and issues, with an emphasis on Seattle and the Northwest.
February 7, 2012 at 9:45 AM
Clint Eastwood’s powerful and moving “Halftime in America” Super Bowl ad for Chrysler has been denounced by some Republican operatives as partisan shilling for President Obama. Eastwood and Chrysler deny it. What’s undeniable is that Mr. Obama, despite tremendous political pressure to do nothing, used federal money to keep Chrysler and General Motors out of bankruptcy liquidation. (Help for Chrysler began in the waining days of the Bush administration). Challenger Mitt Romney opposed the bailout, an irony coming from this son of the man who rescued American Motors.
Playing counterfactual history is always risky, but what if Washington had done nothing? Ford didn’t need federal help. The Japanese transplant factories were also safe. Still, it’s unlikely that GM and Chrysler could have gone through Chapter 11 proceedings like an airline and come out fine. Union-haters would have enjoyed seeing the United Auto Workers decertified and pensions eliminated (and this helps the middle class…how?).
But the auto industry is much more than two or three companies. Had GM and Chrysler shut down, an entire economic ecosystem of suppliers would have been destroyed and the damage might well have taken Ford down, too. It would have devastated a Midwest already reeling from bad trade deals and offshoring of jobs. Millions of jobs might have been at risk.
September 30, 2010 at 9:45 AM
As the third quarter slouches across the finish line, many of the worst fears of early summer weren’t realized. Deflation did not break out. A double-dip recession did not happen. The Eurozone did not collapse. Commercial real-estate’s sickness did not become a worse drag on the economy.
On the other hand, no magic optimism rescued the labor market. Unemployment remained acute, particularly for younger workers, minorities, older workers who had lost a job and those in many distressed industries. Five unemployed workers are chasing every opening. In addition, the weak recovery is sending more people into poverty and income inequality, which was already at levels not seen since the 1920s, is increasing. The real pain and general anxiety is creating an unstable political environment even as it seems to paralyze political leaders from meaningful action.
The Dow rose some 8 percent in September (we’ll see how it ends the last day of the month). Bullish analysts saw it as a sign of fresh life in the expansion. Other observers, also using a word with “bull” in it, pointed out a fresh infusion of money from the Federal Reserve, which was mainlined into equities via low interest rates and was no real vote of confidence in the economy. Interestingly, or ominously, gold stayed above $1,300.
April 21, 2010 at 9:30 AM
General Motors crossed an important milestone today by repaying $8.1 billion in loans from the federal and Canadian governments. American taxpayers still own a substantial share of GM: $45 billion that could be recouped through a stock offering.
The GM and Chrysler bailouts were necessary to save 1 million jobs and a major portion of what’s left of manufacturing in the United States. Repaying through a stock offering is entirely possible. It’s worked before, with the federal rescue of northeastern railroads through the formation of Conrail, which was later successfully privatized. The real question is whether this is indeed a “new GM,” as its executives tout.
The old GM became new many times, including repeated draconian cuts to its workforce and closing dozens of plants. The Saturn reinvention didn’t take, both because of resistance from the United Auto Workers but especially because the executive suite of GM’s heart just wasn’t in it. Most of all, GM just couldn’t design and sell cars that appealed to the public. So a new, new GM? We’ll see. Toyota has given the company a gift that could only be bungled by, well, General Motors.
April 6, 2010 at 10:20 AM
Toyota began receiving complaints about its potentially lethal sudden acceleration problem from Europe in late 2008, and issued repair guidelines for those countries last September. It didn’t announce an accelerator recall here until January. Now the Transportation Department wants to fine Toyota a record $16.4 million for failing to notify regulators quickly about the flaw. That’s the largest fine the government can levy against an automaker under the law. Toyota’s most recent profit was $1.7 billion.
At the risk of putting too fine a point on it, this is one reason white-collar malfeasance pays. The laws and regulations are a patchwork; the corporations have the finest lawyers money can buy, as well as politicians where they have factories; regulators for years have been too cozy with industry. For example, Toyota bragged that it had saved $100 million in recent years by negotiating smaller recalls with regulators.
Even the $2.3 billion fine against Pfizer for fraudulent marketing practices is a “cost of doing business” for a corporation that banked $50 billion in annual revenue. But it’s better than the penalty Toyota faces.
Will “market forces” apply their own rough justice to Toyota? Perhaps, with the help of civil lawsuits (the “trial lawyers”). And at least the company’s president has apologized and promised reforms. That’s more than most American CEOs would do, least of all the princes of Wall Street. But the double standard will remain. The low-income kid who robs a liquor store goes away quickly, hard time. The same isn’t true for corporations — even though the Supreme Court holds they have the same rights as a person — or in most cases for their highly paid leaders.
July 10, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Top of the News: So General Motors has left bankruptcy court as a “good GM,” its CEO vowing “business as usual is over.” The “bad GM” left behind includes the solemn pledges it made to hundreds of thousands of retirees, who as employees created most of the real wealth the company enjoyed.
I hope GM can pull it off. Still, we the people own 60 percent of GM, and the Obama administration lost a key opportunity in using billions of dollars to rescue a company hobbled by decades of mismanagement (remember the EDS acquisition back in the 1980s?).
The government could have insisted that much of GM be retooled to build 21st century transportation equipment, including trains and light rail that would have not only fit with an intelligently crafted stimulus and helped retrofit the country for a higher-energy, less-carbon future, but given GM a big opportunity to open new export markets. In World War II, GM’s plants were quickly converted to make military equipment. Instead, the cautious administration opted for a slimmed-down status quo.
June 1, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Top of the News: At the risk of starting the week with jargon, consider discontinuity and tipping points. And consider the historic Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of General Motors.
As regular readers know, I covered GM in the 1980s and part of the 1990s. This morning, I got an email from a former colleague saying, “Who would have believed it.” He was being somewhat ironic, because much of the serious financial press had forecast big trouble for GM for years, even as it kept bobbing back up again.
If ever there was a company unprepared for discontinuity — that the next 30 years won’t be a replay of the past 30 years — it was GM. For years, consumer and corporate debt could rise seemingly without consequences. Gasoline prices were low and SUVs were highly profitable. Long single-occupant drives in gas guzzlers was that “non-negotiable” American lifestyle and “corporate governance” were words said with an arched eyebrow at the country clubs of Grosse Pointe.
May 29, 2009 at 9:28 AM
Top of the News: The economic elites and much of business journalism tend to discount the potential for a General Motors bankruptcy, which could come as early as this weekend. After all, the American economy is all about financial plays at its worst, and shimmering technology at its best.
This may be premature complacency. While it’s difficult for Northwesterners to appreciate the vast economic footprint of GM, consider this scenario: Boeing, diminished by years of job cuts and factory closings, seeks Chapter 11 and will come out smaller and perhaps still uncompetitive.
Even that doesn’t get at the role of GM in the Midwest, with a still vast network of suppliers from steel to machine tools to parts. Together, they provide the bulk of jobs that provide wages with high multipliers. They prop up municipal budgets. GMAC, while somewhat detached from GM now, is continuing sore in the financial crisis.
May 27, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Top of the News: The frantic improvisations of the Bush and Obama administrations finally crashed against the bondholders of General Motors. They won’t accept a deal exchanging $27 billion in debt for a 10 percent stake in the revamped company.
If the move pushes GM into bankruptcy reorganization, we should be cautious about blaming the bondholders. They include institutions representing Main Street pensioners as well as big investors. Unlike shareholders, they didn’t own GM — and were thus liable for its corporate governance. They made GM loans by purchasing its bonds.
To accept the government deal, which would have given most of the equity in GM to the feds and the United Auto Workers, could have set a bad precedent for the rights of those who buy corporate bonds. Enough bad precedents were set with the controlled demolition of Bear, Sterns and Lehman Brothers.
May 12, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Top of the News: Among the many things weighing on this market — where investors increasingly worry about a sucker’s rally — is the rising potential for a bankruptcy court filing by General Motors.
As I write, GM shares are at $1.12 and falling. Imagine that. General Motors, once the world’s largest automaker and the symbol of American industrial might. “What’s good for America is good for General Motors and vice versa…” (CEO “Engine” Charlie Wilson’s actual quote). A buck and change,
The consequences of the Chapter 11 filing of much-smaller Chrysler are only beginning to be felt, many of them unintended. The supply chain is freezing up, an event that will affect even relatively healthy Ford. Creditors who lost big will reasonably be wary of investing in any new Big Three venture. Who will buy a car from a “bankrupt car company”?
April 30, 2009 at 9:53 AM
Top of the News: Chrysler’s filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is a bookend on the tragic fall of the American auto industry, one that began in the 1960s.
Then, a powerful industry became complacent, auto moguls and union bosses together ignoring quality, competitiveness, innovation and flexibility. The trouble began with the 1973 oil shock and rising xompetition from Japan. The Big Three never really addressed its weaknesses, even though by the late 1980s, unions were continually giving ground.
But the bosses kept building boring cars. They became ever-more prisoners of the bean-counters and anodyne models that seemed to promise steady, large sales — but still eroding against better-quality and more innovative imports. Chysler, as much as its brethren, received a temporary boost with unsustainably low gas prices in the 1980s and 1990s — and Ram trucks and minivans propped up profits. The old executive complacency was merely reinforced.


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Fans of music and Nokia phones are in for a treat: according to a Reuters report, Nokia is bringing their “Comes with Music” service to Australia in the next couple of months. In case you don’t remember, Comes with Music is a service that gives you 12-months worth of unlimited music downloads, which you then get to keep at the end of your 12 month subscription. Crazy, huh?The Reuters article quotes Tero Ojanpera, the head of entertainment and communities at Nokia, as saying that the next two countries after the UK to receive the service will be Australia and Singapore, where they’ll be launching the service in February and March. At the moment, there’s no indication of which handsets the service will be packaged with in Australia, but when it launched in the UK last September it was only available with the 5310. And although the music itself is free, the cost of the service is built into the cost of the handset, so we can’t really say what this will cost you yet either.
We’ve put the call into Nokia’s Australian office to try and get some more info on these issues and more, so stay tuned.


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The Court of Appeal on Tuesday ordered a reduction to a 130-million-baht fine imposed on the tobacco giant Philip Morris for evading tax on cigarettes imported from Indonesia.
A lower court handed down the original penalty in March 2020 to the local unit of the company, which owns the Marlboro and L&M brands.
On Tuesday appeal court officials said judges had ruled the amount be lowered, with the Customs Department to calculate the new fine at a later date. Philip Morris said it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
The case, which began in 2017, centres on accusations that the company under-declared import prices for cigarettes from Indonesia in 2002 and 2003.
The appeal court also reaffirmed a decision by the lower court to drop charges against a former Philip Morris employee.
Philip Morris Thailand branch manager Gerald Margolis welcomed the reduction in the fine but said the company maintains “our position that we have done nothing wrong”.
“Over the last decade, both Thai and international authorities have reviewed (Philip Morris Thailand Ltd) import prices and we believe our customs practices have been consistent with Thai customs valuation laws and international legal requirements,” Mr Margolis said in a statement.
“We will continue to evaluate the court’s decision and believe we have strong arguments for the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.”
Philip Morris Thailand previously faced legal action for evading hundreds of millions of baht in import taxes on cigarettes from the Philippines between 2003 and 2006.
Last year the Court of Appeal trimmed the fine in that case from 1.2 billion baht to 121 million baht.
In the earlier case, Philip Morris (Thailand) was found to have set the price of L&M cigarettes imported from the Philippines at 5.88 baht a pack, while other importers declared the same brand at 16.81 baht. Marlboro imports were set at 7.76 baht per pack, against 27.46 baht reported by other importers.


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More than half of ICI's PC purchases are for mobile computers ICI is rolling out wireless networks to its offices around the world to enable secure and easy connectivity to corporate systems. The...
Remote-access features of electric car chargers can be exploited by attackers to damage the vehicles, claims Kaspersky
'Alliance with Atos, Curzon and Cognizant has delivered a four-fold increase in RoI', says Anglian Water
Anglian Water speaks to Computing after winning the digital project of the year award at the UK IT Industry Awards 2018
BT & Thoughtspot discuss winning the Enterprise Data / Analytics Project of the Year at the UK IT Industry Awards 2018
ICO: 'Generic third-party consent is not enough and companies will be fined if they break the law'


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Builders told to pass on GST benefits
Dated 16th June, 2017
The Central Board of Excise and Customs on Thursday warned builders to refrain from hoodwinking customers by claiming that the GST rate of 12% that applies to them will be levied on the original cost of the building.
The CBEC said that it has received reports that builders are forcing customers to pay the entire cost of the flat before July 1 and pay the current tax rate of 5.5% or pay 12% on any payments made after July 1, which is when GST is expected to be rolled out. This, the tax authority said, is against the GST legislation.
“The CBEC and States have received several complaints that in view of the works contract service tax rate under GST at 12% in respect of under construction flats, complex, etc, the people who have booked flats and made part payment are being asked to make entire payment before July 1, 2017 or to face higher tax incidence for payment made after July 1, 2017. This is against the GST law,” the CBEC statement said.
“Construction of flats, complex, buildings will have a lower incidence of GST as compared to a plethora of central and state indirect taxes suffered by them under the existing regime,” the statement added.
“Suppose you buy a flat for Rs. 1 crore. The builder charges 4.5% service tax, and 1% composition. So, that’s Rs. 5.5 lakh in tax,” Abhishek Jain, Partner at EY India explained. “However, the builder was buying inputs on which there was excise duty and VAT, and there was no credit on this. When he factors this in, then, say that his cost of building the flat was Rs. 95 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh were the input costs.”
“Using the same example, in GST, the cost of the builder will be Rs. 95 lakh, but the Rs. 5 lakh that is excise and VAT on inputs will no longer be a cost,” Mr. Jain added. “So, ideally, he should say the cost of the building is Rs. 95 lakh and then the customer has to pay the 12% GST on that Rs. 95 lakh. But what the builders are trying to do is tell the customers that since they have already agreed to pay Rs. 1 crore for the flat, the 12% tax will apply on that Rs. 1 crore and not on the new cost of the flat, which is Rs. 95 lakh.”
“The builders are expected to pass on the benefits of lower tax burden under the GST regime to the buyers of property by way of reduced prices/instalments,” the statement added.
“It is, therefore, advised to all builders/construction companies that in the flats under construction, they should not ask customers to pay higher tax rate on instalments to be received after imposition of GST.”
“Despite this clarity on law position, if any builder resorts to such practice, the same can be deemed to be profiteering under section 171 of GST law.”
Source: The Hindu


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Before May 2016, the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) stood at N87/liter. However, in May 2016, following the continued rise in the prices of oil across the globe, the Government increased PMS price to N145/liter. This price remained till March 2020, just before the pandemic lockdown.
At this point the world oil market had slumped to its lowest in many years, prompting regulators to take a second look at the price at which PMS was sold in the country. Towards ensuring a market reflective cost, the price of PMS slumped by as much as 16.2%, which meant that for the first time since May 2016, PMS sold below the N145/liter mark at N121.5/liter.
This was quite interesting as many players within the industry saw this as an opportunity for the regulators to put in place the right mechanisms towards deregulating the downstream petroleum sector of the industry. True to the words of the regulators, between March and September this year, prices of PMS have been adjusted about three more times culminating to a price of about N160/liter as at September 4, 2020.
In light of these happenings, many players and industry watchers are beginning to ponder as to the fact that maybe the Government has finally become brave enough to let the forces of demand and supply dictate the market, thereby creating the needed awareness for the players in the industry to start thinking about the future of the industry from a deregulated perspective and brace up to the challenges of delivering quality service in an almost moribund sector of the industry.
These new developments portend huge opportunities for players to start preparing for the needed investments in the full value chain of the downstream sector towards optimization of the marginal costs of managing their businesses towards increased marginal revenues that will bring about the continued investment in what is a multi-billion Naira business.
To this effect, the question now arises as to who will be the leaders in an industry with such huge potentials that have remained mostly untapped as a result of regulation. For us at Nairametrics, we see opportunities and believe that there are huge potential players who will help shape the narrative of this sector of the industry in a number of ways, which include but are not limited to the following.
- Managing supply chain inefficiencies through the right partnerships.
- Increased partnerships along the value chain, from procurement to customer end distribution as players will seek to harness the synergies and strengths of partners in the different segments of the value chain.
- Increased specialization by players in this sector of the industry, which lead to increased investments by players as well as other institutional investors towards optimizing the efficiencies with the value chain.
- (3) above for us would bring about huge reductions in the marginal costs of transacting along the value chain and huge increases in the marginal revenues across the value chain towards increased value and wealth creation.
However, we believe that to achieve all the above, major players within the sector must start to strategize on how to rebuild the downstream oil and gas sector in order to achieve the dividends of deregulation. As we continue to watch the goings-on with the industry, we wait to see who amongst the players will be the first to enlighten the public more about the dividends of deregulation.
Whoever is first to light the torch through that narrow path for all to understand how we can earn these dividends we believe will be the trailblazers of creating a more efficient Supply Chain Management System that would shape the narrative of how we do business in the Downstream Oil and Gas sector of the Industry.
In conclusion, we at Nairametrics believe that finally “PETROLEUM PRODUCT DEREGULATION FINALLY COME TO ROOST”. Our guess is probably as good as yours.
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Uade Ahimie is a chartered accountant and corporate governance implementation expert, with almost 3 decades of working experience in oil and gas downstream and upstream, banking and consulting.
He is also a member of the Nairametrics Editorial Board.
Are we heading towards a food crisis?
The government may need to review the protectionist measures in place in order to avert a food crisis.
Based on the selected food price watch data for August 2020 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), major consumer staples showed substantial increases between August 2019 (when the land border closure took effect) and August 2020. The steep price increases across the food items is consistent with the increase in food inflation from 13.17% in August 2019 to 16.0% in August 2020. Of more concern is the fact that rice, the most
widely consumed food staple among consumers showed substantial increase in the two variants; local sold loose (up 37.5% y/y) and imported high quality sold loose (up 40.7% y/y).
In our view, the predominant factor behind the surge in the prices of major food items is the closure of the land borders, which has been exacerbated by administrative controls employed by the monetary and fiscal authorities in rationing foreign exchange. We recall that in July, the CBN included Maize on the list of items ineligible for FX from official sources. Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to allocate foreign exchange to importers of food and fertilizer. We also understand that heavy rainfalls in the northwestern part of the country have also affected farmlands, as the head of Kebbi state branch of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria revealed that about 90% of the 2 million tons of rice to be harvested were destroyed.
The persistent increase in the prices of food items despite the protectionist measures implemented by the government suggests that local production still lags consumption significantly. Considering the weak harvest season due to the impact of the global pandemic amidst higher distribution costs linked to higher PMS prices following the deregulation of the downstream sector, we believe price of food items will continue to trend upwards.
Additionally, we expect the pass-through impact of the devaluation in the local currency to put further pressure on imported food inflation. Overall, we think the government needs to review the protectionist measures in place in order to avert a food crisis.
CSL Stockbrokers Limited, Lagos (CSLS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc and is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria. CSLS is a member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Has the President erred in stopping CBN from funding food imports?
What implication does the President’s directive to the CBN hold for the economy?
The President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, last week said, “I am restating it that nobody importing food or fertilizer should be given foreign exchange from the Central Bank. We will not pay a kobo of our foreign reserves to import food or fertilizer. We will instead empower local farmers and producers.”
Why is the president stopping the CBN from funding food imports? The answer is simple. The CBN Exchange rates are cheaper than autonomous sources. The CBN lists the exchange rate for the Dollar at $1 to N379, however the Naira is being sold on the parallel market at N440. Hence, importers prefer to access CBN funds to import, because it reduces the cost of those imports. In effect, at N379, the CBN is subsidizing those imports via a ‘strong Naira’
The President’s directive is thus in line with his new overall push to eliminate all subsidies especially subsidies funded by the scare US dollar. In this aspect, the President is simply seeking to protect the foreign reserves which are paying for other imports. So, he is right.
Is this a wise strategy?
Nairametrics earlier reported on the NBS recently released report on Nigeria’s total spending, which indicated that about N22.7 trillion was spent on food in 2019. This is 56.7% of the total spending (N40.2 trillion) for that period.
Where does the food Nigerians eat come from? Clearly Nigeria has a large agricultural base, but a significant proportion of Nigeria’s food is imported, and the cost of those imports have risen, as the value of the Naira has depreciated in relation to the US dollar.
According to data from the NBS, Nigeria’s spending on food and drink importation increased from $2.9bn in 2015 to $4.1bn in 2017, but dipped in 2018.
Have these imports plus local production met local demand on a consistent basis? The answer is no. Take rice for instance, the BBC reports that, “Between 2015, when the foreign exchange restrictions for rice came into effect, and early 2017, the price of a 50kg bag of rice went from $24 to $82 and fell in mid-2017 to $34, but in June 2019, the price stood at $49.”
The law of supply in economics, states that when the price of a commodity increases, its supply also increases. Hence, there is a direct relationship between price and supply of a commodity. In other words, if the price of rice goes up, more suppliers will enter the market to supply rice.
However, In Nigeria, as the price of food is rising, the NBS in the latest Inflation report, says the composite food index rose by 15.48% in July 2020 compared to 15.18% in June 2020. This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Meat, Fruits, Oils and fats, and Fish. (essentially everything). The NBS says, the average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality sold loose) increased year-on-year by 37.72%.
So why has the supply of rice not risen to correspond with rise in prices? Well, because the supply of rice and other foodstuff have indeed risen, but the problem remains logistics processing & storage.
In Nigeria, you only eat corn during corn season, same with mangoes, and tomatoes. Prices fall during harvest, then rise after harvest. The problem is not just with the harvest, but getting that harvest to market, storing the excess, and processing its supplies all year round. Therefore, imports are needed to plug supply holes.
Nigerians in 2019 alone spent N1.9trillion or 4.7% of their budget on rice alone. When the President banned food importers from getting the CBN dollar at N379; he simply pushed them to import rice at N440; a N61 difference that will be added to the cost of imports, and will fuel imported inflation.
Where the president got it wrong is trying to fix a local logistics problem with a foreign exchange fix.
The solution is to go back to the various food supply value chains, de-risk and de-cost them. If food is cheap and plentiful, there will be no need for imports and inflation will fall.
Can Agriculture replace Oil in Nigeria?
To truly diversify from oil and create proper value, agriculture must give birth to an industry.
Over the years, Nigerians have clamored for a diversified economy, that is not over-reliant on crude oil. Recently there have been several talks about agriculture being on the front-burner of our exports.
But the reality is that there is a gulf in difference between the revenue agriculture can bring in and what Oil currently generates. Despite the steady growth in the value of Nigeria’s agricultural exports over three years (2016 to 2018), the country’s agricultural exports to total exports remained below 2%.
During the period of independence, Nigeria was a major exporter of food to West African nations; Unfortunately, she has morphed into a net importer. With the advent of oil in the 1970s, fiscal and economic policy was one-sided, and the country’s domestic and foreign investments were on oil, at the expense of other sectors of the economy. Inadvertently, Government revenue has increasingly come from oil and remains hostage to volatile oil prices.
In a recent report, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) claimed that Nigeria earned close to N289.3 billion from the exportation of the top 10 agricultural produce between April 2019 and March 2020. The report asserted that both commodities (sesamum seeds and cocoa) accounted for over 60% of the country’s exports as they are the most sought after internationally. Comparatively, the top 10 agricultural produce made N289.3 billion across three quarters. These figures are relatively low compared with the Q2, 2020 proceeds of crude oil which stands at N1.6 trillion.
A picture containing text, map description automatically generated.
From the above diagram, Oil generated N1.6 trillion in Q2 2020, while the other commodities combined to record about N612 billion in Q2 2020. One trillion naira lesser (considering Oil prices were significantly low during that quarter). A 2018 report from PWC showed that oil revenue accounts for more than 80% of total value of annual Nigerian exports. Ironically, the agriculture industry contributed an estimate of 25% to total GDP in 2018, while the oil’s share of GDP was 8.6% over the same period. Since the agriculture sector is the largest contributor to Nigeria’s GDP, it has potentials to contribute a larger percentage of our annual export revenue.
Explore the Nairametrics Research Website for Economic and Financial Data
Agriculture toppling Crude oil as our main export might be a tall order, but if we want to truly diversify from oil and create proper value, agriculture must give birth to an industry.
If agriculture currently employs, say, one million Nigerians; the agro-allied industry can employ five million in the value chain. In a monetary context, if Nigeria produces cocoa beans, which recorded over N30billion revenue in 2018, an industry that processes cocoa to chocolates & beverages would produce double the revenue or more.
Oil would be the main commodity for a long time, but it is possible to create more financial values from other commodities.


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Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider will be releasing on March 5 2013 as shown in the gameplay trailer that came out, which is embedded below for your viewing pleasure.
The game was first shown at Microsoft’s E3 conference last year, and will be shown this year as well. The game’s seen as something that will rival the best games out there. Recently Square Enix mentioned that it’s one of the most ambitious games yet and people will be surprised to see it.
The game was originally scheduled to be released this year but was delayed to 2013. The trailer is a little spoilerific, so you have been warned. The game will be released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Tell us what you think in the comments section below.


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Dare you scale Tianmen Mountain on a transparent skywalk suspended from the summit?
As though scaling a mountain and teetering off its ledge (like with this insane 1,000ft-high swing) wasn’t extreme enough, visitors to Tianmen Mountain are now testing their limits with a new heart-stopping attraction.
The Coiled Dragon Cliff has just opened to the public in August this year, allowing visitors to almost walk on air. It stretches some 100m and measures 1,400m from the ground. It is the third glass skywalk in the Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area.
It offers an unparalleled panoramic view of the stunning canyon landscape – if you can even keep your eyes open while crossing it.
There are two other glass skywalks in the Tianmen Mountain area, 1.6km of non-glass bottomed cliff-hanging walkways and one glass bridge that is reportedly the world’s longest and highest. Tianmen Mountain is also home to the world’s longest cable car ride.


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Wearables the watchword.
Australians are taking to wearable devices as smartphone sales weaken, according to new research from technology firm, Telsyte.
The Telsyte Australian Smartphone & Wearable Devices Market Study 2018-2022 found 4.3 million smartphones were sold in the first half of 2018, a fall of 3.7% from 4.4 million from the same time last year. And one in three smartphone owners are showing signs of holding off buying a new smartphone until 5G models become available, possibly impacting market performance in the next 18 months before 5G smartphones become widely available.
However, smartwatch sales are growing with around 680,000 units sold during the first half of 2018, up by more than 80% from the first half of 2017 with Telsyte estimating that around 15% of smartphone users now use a smartwatch.
Apple continued to dominate the smartwatch market, with more than half of all units sold an Apple Watch. Others, including Fitbit, Samsung and Garmin are starting to see growth due to greater awareness, lower prices and customers upgrading from basic fitness bands. Apple Watch also has the highest repeat purchase intention at 80%, while Fitbit sits at around 60%.Smart accessories like Apple AirPods have been a key companion to the iPhone with Telsyte estimating more than 800,000 have been sold in Australia since launching at the end of 2016.
Other potential wearable categories, such as smart glasses are also gaining interest, with Telsyte research showing one-in-five consumers are showing signs of buying one, especially if the design is slim and light, similar to sunglasses, and priced similarly to a smartphone or tablet.
It was a sobering first half of 2018 for Android smartphone sales after a strong upgrade year in 2017, Telsyte senior analyst, Alvin Lee said. “The balance of 2018 could remain in favour of Apple with more iPhone users expected to be coming out of contract this year,” he said.
Android sales during the measured period were down 7% while Apple was up 2% although Android was still leading in market share with 53% versus Apple on 47%.
Apple remained market leader in the first half, with Samsung, Oppo and Huawei making up the top four. And Australians are gravitating towards premium models with more than 55%, of iPhones purchased in the first half higher end models, including iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X, compared to 50% a year ago (iPhone 7 & 7 Plus). And 32% of smartphones purchased outright cost more than $800 in the first half of 2018 compared to only 22% in 2016.
Apple maintained the highest repeat purchase intention on 90%+, followed by Samsung on 85%+. No other smartphone brand has a repeat purchase intention rate of higher than 55% in Australia.
Things could look up however with the arrival of 5G expected to create the next big upgrade event, according to Telsyte managing director, Foad Fadaghi. “Carriers will be hoping 5G smartphones are available ahead of their network launches, if not soon thereafter,” he said.
Telsyte found that of those most willing to wait for 5G handsets includes users of premium model smartphones, (e.g. Samsung Galaxy S8 & S9, iPhone X, iPhone 8) at around 50%, and those currently on contract, (40%). Nearly half of iPhone users intending to purchase a new iPhone in 2019 indicated they were likely to wait until a 5G iPhone was available.


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Kanye West + G.O.O.D. Music Album ‘Cruel Summer’ Leaks Online
As expected, Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music compilation 'Cruel Summer' leaked online Wednesday night (Sept. 12), much to the chagrin of his record label Def Jam. In recent years, album leaks on the Internet have become more exciting than the actually release date.
Several songs from the 12-track LP have already surfaced on the web and publications like SPIN and the Los Angeles Times have already offered their first-listen reviews of the collection. Fan reactions to the album on Twitter have been mixed. One follower wrote, 'Cruel Summer' may not be the greatest album ever, but it bangs so hard in the car!" while another tweeted, "I'm not even disappointed with 'Cruel Summer,' I said it would be average and it is (imo)."
However, there are some people who are waiting to cop the physical CD and don't want to tarnish their listening experience with an illegal download. "I am not going to review cruel summer till it officially comes out thats why am not goin to listen to it I dont want to kill my excitement," tweeted fashion blogger @KenyanStylista.
According to Complex, online leaks have become the new pastime for digital audiophiles to hear new music. "Leak night represents the way new music is consumed, and release day is a relic," writes Ernest Baker about the music trend. "Leak night offers an immediacy indicative of where we're at now, as modern music listeners. It's not that we don't want to buy albums anymore, but the conversation about them isn't happening in line at Tower Records anymore."
"Simply put, record labels need to start dropping their tentpole projects on iTunes and Spotify on leak night," he continues. "The audience and the artists are living in the future. Maybe the industry will catch up soon."
Which has us wondering why West didn't use the same release-date tactics that he and Jay-Z employed in 2011 for 'Watch the Throne.' When the album hit iTunes, nobody had heard it yet and everybody was able to hear the LP legally (albeit there were illegal digital copies floating around) all together at one time.
Either way, the physical copies of 'Cruel Summer' will officially hit stores on Sept. 18.
If you have heard 'Cruel Summer,' tell us what you thought about the album in the comments below. Is it pop or slop?
Watch the G.O.O.D. Music 'Cruel Summer' 30-Second Commercial


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ITC has announced the launch of a 'Lo Smoke' variant of its incense brand Mangaldeep. In conversation with Ravi Rayavaram, chief executive of Matches and Agarbatti Business, ITC, we explore the category, the trends and the shifts within.
Agarbatti, that indispensable part of puja rituals, are bought solely for their fragrance. But with fragrance also comes smoke. Adding a new twist to the product, ITC's agarbatti brand Mangaldeep recently announced a new 'Lo Smoke' variant. The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of the new offering is that it releases 80 per cent less smoke than other brands in the market. The 'Lo Smoke' product has been announced in one variant (Breezy Lavender) and is available in packs of 50 sticks, priced at Rs 50.
While the product is a necessity in almost all Indian homes, the huge demand has led to a large number of fragrant options. Mangaldeep's new offering is out to make its space among 6000 plus players across the country. Among key competitors are brands like Cycle, Moksh, Zed, Kalpana, Hari Darshan and Patanjali.
In conversation with afaqs!, Ravi Rayavaram, chief executive of Matches and Agarbatti Business, ITC, reveals that the Agarbatti and Dhoop market in India is worth Rs 8,800 crore and is growing at an approximately 15 per cent, three-year CAGR. Being a non-seasonal product category, it is used throughout the year and at least thrice a week. Consumption sees a spike during the festive period. "Mangaldeep has nearly 10 per cent market share and is number one in dhoopbatti and number two in the agarbatti category," Rayavaram says. (Dhoopbatti is a variant of the incense stick without the bamboo/wood punk.)
However, agarbatti smoke, unlike smoke in general, is welcome and not repulsive. So what could have led to the innovation? It could be a host of things - the pressure to stand out in an extremely fragmented market, to deal with growing conversations around air pollution or to provide a fresh break to the age-old association with prayer. Agarbatti advertising has almost created a category code of 'smoking incense sticks on arti thali' visuals. With little room to stand out, almost all brands in the space (including Mangaldeep) have stuck to similar advertising for years.
"We found that high smoke was considered undesirable by some consumers during consumer immersions, because of the perception that it interfered with a great fragrance experience. Moreover, smoke was welcome only to the extent that was considered necessary to please God, purify the puja space and carry the fragrance everywhere," Rayavaram says.
'Lo Smoke' is targeted at the regular but relatively lighter consumer of agarbattis belonging to more affluent sections of urban India. "Apart from the key devotional need for using agarbattis to please God, they also seek secondary benefits," Rayavaram says.
He reveals that apart from the many attitudinal trends exhibited by consumers, there has been a key shift in the role of incense. "It has transitioned from merely pleasing God to an all-encompassing role of bringing in positivity to the self and setting the ambience for a mindful prayer. We are tapping a consumer insight which is mainly reflective of the millennial generation and is sometimes different from the beliefs of their ancestors and the manner in which they performed their daily puja," he adds.
However, don't puja-heavy ads limit use cases? The 'fragrance' proposition fits multiple situations.
"The primary use case for agarbattis continues to be in the realm of devotion with over 90 per cent of consumers using it solely for puja": Ravi Rayavaram
"The primary use case for agarbattis continues to be in the realm of devotion with over 90 per cent of consumers using it solely for puja. Other use cases such as home fragrance, removing mal-odours and repelling insects have always been secondary," Rayavaram responds.
This also keeps agarbattis from clashing with home fragrance and freshener products like Godrej Aer, Air Wick, Febreze which, by nature, are totally smokeless.
As part of consumer outreach, Mangaldeep also has an app which was launched in 2016 as a devotional companion for users. It augments devotional experiences through services, content and relevant interpretation. The app's content is created in collaboration with temples, relevant government institutions and subject matter experts.
While Rayavaram mentions that agarbatti is a highly commoditised category, he maintains that Mangaldeep has been able to strongly differentiate itself.
Speaking of differentiation, rival brand Lia comes with a proposition of burning for a longer duration. Mangaldeep has launched coloured agarbattis in the past and has targeted devotees of specific temples with its 'Temple' range that includes variants like 'Lord Jagannath’s Favourite Fragrance' and 'Baba-Vishwanath Agarbatti'. Brands like Phool sell organic agarbattis made from material like flowers, etc.
"We have tested the product through in-home experiences extensively before launch and have found purchase intention from users to be very high. The Lo Smoke proposition is another step in our journey towards launching superior and differentiated offerings for the discerning customers," Rayavaram says.
However, products in other categories which have deep associations with smoke have also explored the 'Low' proposition in the past. ITC had launched a 'Low Smell' version of its Classic brand of cigarettes in 2016. Godrej's mosquito repellent brand Good Knight has a low-smoke coil as well.
Speaking of challenges, Rayavaram says, "It is important to reach the right set of consumers, that is, the early adopters and generate enough trials. It is an industry with low barriers to entry and therefore, there is a huge prevalence of loose and unbranded products. However, there is clearly a trend to upgrade and move to branded products since consumers are increasingly seeking better product quality and experiences."
Mangaldeep Lo Smoke is set for launch initially on all e-commerce portals and in the second phase will be available across offline channels such as modern formats of supermarkets and self–service stores. Online awareness initiative will be followed by campaigns across mass media.


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Namco Bandai’s opened up a brand new countdown website for something. What that something is, we don’t know, but the countdown is now at 210 hours, meaning it’ll come to a halt in nine days – next Thursday. According to NeoGAF‘s miladesn, Namco’s registered the trademarks Dark Escape and Northern Wings. Make two, combine two and it gives you five? We’ll find out next week.
Ghost Recon: Wildlands gets a new mode. Here’s how it works.
Pokemon Go’s newest battle feature explained in detail. Go in prepared.
In China, Hearthstone players must now purchase Arcane Dust to earn “free” card packs.


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Going through withdrawals
Someone was sleeping in an ATM kiosk on E Street.
Someone was speeding in a car and waving a bat out of the window on First Street.
Making it easy
An unlocked bike was stolen on Drexel Drive.
Ninja in training
Someone was behaving suspiciously and wearing black clothing on Seventh Street.
A “general panic alarm” went off on Bellhaven Place.
A subject threw beer bottles and yelled at a bartender on Second Street.
Police briefs are compiled by TRACY HARRIS from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact TRACY HARRIS at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Posted by – Shawn Keenan, Assistant City Planner
Rochester Mills Production Brewery, located at 3275 Lapeer West Road, plans to open their tasting room to the public. The 560 square foot tasting room, which is expected to open in early January 2017, will offer beer lovers the opportunity to sample their favorite beers and learn more about the brewing process and new products. Customers will be able to purchase 4-packs and half gallon growlers to go.
The initial hours for the tasting room are Thursday 5pm to 10pm, Friday 5pm to 11pm and Saturday from 3pm to 11pm. For more information about the Rochester Mills Production Brewery, visit their website at www.beercos.com.


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the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) announced a facility-wide ban on single-use plastic bottles to celebrate Earth Day, April 22.
Levy Restaurants, the LACC’s food and beverage partner, has replaced single-use plastic bottles with aluminum bottles in cafes and catering establishments. Drinks sold from vending machines in the center followed suit.
Ellen Schwartz, CEO of LACC, said, “As an environmentally responsible facility, this was an obvious next step. The long-term cost of single-use plastic to our environment was something we could no longer ignore.
The LACC, owned by the City of Los Angeles and operated by ASM Global, has aligned its plan with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal to eliminate plastic bottles at city-owned facilities.
Garcetti commented, “The climate crisis demands that we take bold action now to fight climate change and phasing out plastic bottles at the Convention Center is an important step we can take to achieve our goals.”
Doane Liu, Director of Tourism and Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department of Tourism, said, “The LACC has been a leader in sustainability, not only with this effort, but in installing the largest sign ever. solar on a municipality. convention center owned in the United States.
In addition to reducing plastic pollution, the new aluminum bottles are easily refillable from any of the 21 on-site hydration stations. To date, these water filling stations have saved approximately 150,000 plastic bottles.


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Waitrose has cut the retail price of its own-label milk by 5.6%, bringing its price into line with other major supermarkets.
As of yesterday, four pints of whole, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk cost £1.18 in Waitrose, 7p down from £1.25 [BrandView.co.uk]. The price Waitrose pays its farmers will not be affected. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have been selling four pints of milk for £1.18 since last October.
Waitrose’s retail price cut comes as dairy farmers are growing increasingly agitated over reductions to the milk price they receive from processors. Robert Wiseman Dairies, Dairy Crest, Arla and First Milk all announced farmgate milk price cuts over the past week.
However, Waitrose stressed that while it had cut its price to consumers, it had not lowered the price it pays farmers. “Waitrose has continued to invest in value and we are continually reviewing our own-label prices to ensure we remain competitive with the market,” a spokeswoman said.
“Waitrose is committed to long-term relationships. We have been working with our dedicated dairy farmers for over 12 years to ensure a sustainable supply of high-quality milk to our customers and that a fair price is paid to our farmers.
“In this challenging time we will continue to support and work closely with our farmers to ensure they receive a sustainable milk price.”


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AVONDALE — Marlena Ascher has a secret she wants to share, and that secret is Avondale.
"You don't have to be in the main part of [the city] for something cool. Most people, and certainly those outside the area, don't know that [much about Avondale]," said Ascher, founder of the Northwest Arts Connection.
Come June 3, Ascher said she hopes Chicagoans from all over the city will see what the neighborhood has to offer during the third Avondale Restaurant Crawl. The event will provide tastings from more than a dozen Avondale eateries, from miniature shepherd's pie to smoothies.
"It would be easier to plan a sweet little neighborhood festival, but that's not our intent. The whole goal of this is to be a strategic event that becomes a milestone in the journey of having a much larger, well-recognized art and food scene," Ascher said.
The crawl, organized by the NAC, the Avondale Neighborhood Association and the Greater Avondale Chamber of Commerce, will begin at 6 p.m. June 3 at Brands Park, 3249 N. Elston Ave. A trolley will help transport guests to the various clusters of restaurants, while musical acts like the Four Star Brass Band and the Chicago Academy of Music will perform at the park and around the neighborhood.
Tickets are $20 in advance online and $25 at the event and include trolley rides.
Restaurants were free to design their own tastings for the crawl, Ascher said. Some, like Chief O'Neill's, are offering multiple options. The Irish restaurant at 3471 N. Elston St. will have chilled tomato soup with Irish brown bread, a miniature shepherd's pie and watermelon salad shooters. The organic market eSutras, 3333 N. Elston Ave., will offer free tastings of organic and artisan tisanes, superfoods and chocolates.
"We made a very special point this year to get the restaurants more involved, and they're getting more excited as we're getting closer, because they're each thinking about the healthy competition. It's opportune for the guests, because they're going to be making their best," Ascher said.
New to the crawl are the recently opened Parachute, Brew Brew and Fruit Paradise. Ascher said the entertainment — from performing dogs to free caricature portraits — at Brands Park will also be ramped up for the crawl's third year.
Restaurants participating in the crawl include:
- Chief O'Neill's
- Honey Butter Fried Chicken
- eSutras Organics
- Fruit Paradise
- Square Bar & Grill
- Pork Shoppe
- The Beer Temple
- Taqueria Traspasada
- Dragon Lady Lounge
- Burger King
- The Orbit Room
- Brew Brew
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:


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India’s CoinDCX may be the newest crypto exchange to join the unicorn club: Report
CoinDCXranks amongst the top four crypto exchanges in India, alongside WazirX, Zebpay and CoinSwitch Kuber.
- The company saw trading worth $20-25 million during the fourth quarter of 2020.
- It has raised three funding rounds worth $19.4 million throughout 2020.
According to the Economic Times, this will give CoinDCX a $1 billion valuation making it the newest
More importantly, this will provide the startup with enough funds to reach its goal of adding 50 million new users to its platform. Sources told ET that the new capital will most likely be used to boost customer acquisition.
The round will likely be led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group. Existing investors, Polychain Capital and US-based Coinbase Ventures, are also believed to be participating.
While crypto startups are an important part of India’s growing startup ecosystem, lack of regulatory clearances have made them an outlier of sorts. The country has produced over 50 billion dollar companies over the past two years, but crypto companies haven’t figured in the news as much as others.
Not the first crypto unicorn
CoinDCX won't be the first crypto exchange to join the unicorn club. Binance, Robinhood, Ripple, and others are already members. But, CoinDCX is the first Indian crypto company to step in.
Binance-owned WazirX's WRX token, which also powers its newly launched non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, hit a billion dollar valuation in April 2021. Along with WazirX, CoinDCX ranks amongst the top four crypto exchanges in the country, including CoinSwitch Kuber and Zebpay.
Including the $13 million raised in December last year, CoinDCX raised a total of $19.4 million in three funding rounds over 2020. Founded by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, the company has expanded its services beyond the crypto exchange, adding products like lending.
Ambitions to hit 50 million new users
AdvertisementCoinDCX told ET that it had 1.5 million registered users last month, after its user base grew 700% since March 2020.But that is a pebble in the ocean compared to the 50 million target the company has set for itself.
But, Khandelwal is hopeful. He told YourStory he is hoping that CoinDCX Go and the addition of new features will boost mass adoption among newbies.
The good news is that India’s crypto exchanges have grown rapidly over the past year, making them a profitable space for those looking to diversify how they invest their money. With the pandemic making the economy uncertain, there was a flurry of activity by people to diversify their savings.
WazirX and CoinDCX witnessed a growth of 125% and 85%, respectively during the three months of October to December, according to a report by Mint . At the time — before the price of Bitcoin plummeted and the crypto market entered its most recent slump — the platform saw $20 to $25 million worth of trading every day, and about 75% of it came from Indian investors.
According to data from analysis firm Venture Intelligence, investments in crypto firms more than quadrupled in 2020, growing from $5 million in 2019 to $24 million in 2020. CoinDCX seems to have accounted for most of that investment.
AdvertisementFor a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve.
UPDATE: The article incorrectly mentioned that WazirX has a one billion valuation. It has been updated to mention that not WarizX, but its token, hit one billion earlier this year.
Equalisation levy on crypto exchanges in India will not apply to investors, according the Finance Minister
Elon Musk and Michael Saylor’s influence on crypto markets have made it as volatile as the ‘crypto winter’ of 2017
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THE AMERICAN EGG BOARD (AEB) has launched a new marketing
initiative that aims to highlight eggs’ versatility as ingredients in dishes
Incredible Egg, the marketing arm of the AEB, has launched its Dinner Egg concept with a fake documentary and new website that highlights recipe...
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Upholding the safety of its drivers and passengers has always been Grab’s core value, hence, GrabProtect is setting higher bars of hygiene standards in ride-hailing to minimise the spread of COVID-19 on its transport services.
As life gradually resumes and Grab’s services slowly resume as a norm, users can expect to see these safety measures implemented progressively in their new ride routine towards end June 2020.
1. Enforcing hygiene habits through technology
There are two new features on their application—an online health and hygiene declaration form and a masks selfie tool.
The online health and hygiene declaration form confirms that users do not exhibit COVID-19 symptoms and have adopted the necessary safety and hygiene measures, while the in-app mask selfie feature—at the end of the declaration—ensures that all users are masked up for their ride.
2. New policies to empower users to make the right safety choices
The Grab transport system also implements safe distancing measures. For example, passengers are not allowed to sit in the front seat beside the driver. This means that a regular 5-seater car can only take up to three passengers now.
To safeguard everyone’s safety, if either party is not wearing a mask or appears unwell, it is valid for anyone to cancel the ride without a penalty fee.
3. Equipping vehicles with hygiene kits
Since March 2020, Grab has provided 100,000 face masks and sanitisers for their drivers and delivery partners.
Moving forward, Grab is exploring partnerships with hygiene products suppliers in the region to provide products for their partners at discounted rates. This ensures that vehicles are well-equipped to keep up to Grab’s safety and hygiene standards.
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